New School, New Start
by xUchihaGirl94x
Summary: Sakura is the new student in Konoha High and everyone looks at her as a freak. With a secret that she is reluctant to tell anyone, can someone heal her wounded heart? SASUSAKU
1. Konoha High

_Beep, beep, beep!_

A long, loud groan could be heard from the second bedroom of no. 6 Woodland Grove as the young woman who occupied it was rudely disturbed from her beauty sleep. She reluctantly rolled over onto her side and hurled the purple alarm clock across the room. After listening to the satisfying bash of it colliding with a wall, she shuffled back under the covers, cuddling her teddy-bear that her father bought her three years ago.

"Sakura honey, time to get up for school!"

The teenager took a deep breath in and sat bolt upright in her bed. She had totally forgotten about the first day at her new school. She staggered slightly over to the bathroom to have a wash, the water slapping her awake. Sakura then walked back into her cosy, warm room and got changed into the clothes that she had laid out the night before.

Unlike her old school uniform, this one wasn't itchy, however she had to wear a knee-length skirt, and in the middle of November it was a little bit chilly.

The next thing in her routine was to stand in front of her full-length mirror and brush her long, soft-pink locks. Finally placing a scarlet headband on, she skipped downstairs into the dining room where her mother had already made her breakfast and placed it on the table. Sitting down comfortably, she gave in to her rumbling stomach and tucked in.

"Morning dear, feeling excited?" her mother asked, halfway through her own breakfast.

"I think nervous is a better word for it…" Sakura muttered through a mouthful of toast.

"Don't speak with your mouthful darling and don't worry, you'll be fine." At this her daughter rolled her eyes and swallowed.

"But mum, in my old school they all used to bully me, I mean, who's natural hair colour is pink?" she asked, stroking her hair to put her point across. "Plus, I don't want to be the freaky genius that I was in my other school."

"You won't be, I promise. The people around here are really friendly. You'll be welcomed with open arms at Konoha High." Mrs. Haruno reassured her with a smile.

"I guess…" Sakura sighed, trying to think positive.

'_New school, new start, new friends…'_

The pink-haired student then started to giggle as something rubbing themselves against her ankle, tickling her – Sakura was extremely ticklish! She glanced down to find her beloved snow-white cat purring gently next to her foot, keeping it warm.

After eating her breakfast and gulping down a mug of coffee, she walked into the hall and slipped her feet into her newly purchased school shoes. Picking up her bag and sliding it on her shoulder, she bid her mother goodbye and walked out the door to her new school. She was starting to feel extremely ill…

Walking through the front gates, Sakura felt numerous pairs of eyes bore into her back. Didn't these people have anything better to do than stare at and uncomfortable, nervous, new student?

She couldn't get into the school building fast enough, although she couldn't help noticing a huge fountain on her way. It had the initials of the school engraved on a slab of stone with water sprouting out of them into a pool filled with Koi Carp. The added touch was that there were a couple of robins taking their morning baths. It was a beautiful sight. She wondered how she had been accepted into this school; it just seemed so expensive, so… grand.

Sakura's eyes were now darting about trying to spot a teacher to help her find her way to the Principal's office.

'_Why aren't there any teachers around?' _the pink-haired teenager thought, feeling really uncomfortable that all eyes were on her. She hated to be in the spotlight. The thing that bothered her was that none of the students were even bothering to help her; it was quite obvious that she was new.

"A newbie, eh? Not lost are ya?" A very tall and tanned man with a mask covering most of his face approached Sakura. He was accompanied by a shorter man with light grey hair and too much gel, Sakura thought. He seemed to be wearing a chain with a triangle inside a circle dangling on the end. Both of them looked at least a year older than Sakura, most likely Senior's.

"No, I'm fine, thanks."

"Come on, we'll help you on your way." The second man with the necklace insisted. Sakura sighed.

"Can you tell me where the Principal's office is please?" she mumbled. The two men smirked.

"Why, certainly! You turn right and go up some stairs. It's right on the middle of the first floor, ya can't miss it."

"Oh, thanks…" she started to walk towards where they had directed her when she heard a rather deliberate cough behind her.

"That'll cost ya." the taller man stated.

"Excuse me?" Sakura was taken aback by this sudden demand.

"Cough up all ya money, or else" he threatened. Sakura's eyes widened, these two were obviously the school bullies. How could she have been so stupid? And how were they going to react when they found out that she didn't have a single penny on her?

She started to stutter as the men advanced on her when she heard a voice behind her – again – but this time it was female.

"Hey, you two leave her alone! What's she ever done to you?" The two men sighed and walked of muttering 'Forget it.'

Sakura turned around on the ball of her foot to take a look at her saviour. She had brown hair tied up in two buns and bright brown eyes. She was swirling a pair of scissors in her hand and Sakura took a mental note not to get on the wrong side of her.

"Thanks…" Sakura mumbled for the second time in five minutes.

"Don't mention it, you shouldn't go talking to them, nasty piece of work if you ask me."

"Who were they?"

"Those two? They're Kakuzu and Hidan. Kakuzu is obsessed with money and Hidan worships this religion that doesn't even exist. But don't let him hear you say that, he'll go berserk. They belong to a group of eight others who call themselves the 'Akatsuki'. Take my advice: Don't. Go. Anywhere. Near. Them. Again."

"Ok, how do you know so much about them?"

"Let's just say one of my friends' brother is in the 'organisation'." making quotation signs with her hands when she said the word organisation. The girl smiled at Sakura, but then alarmed her by suddenly slapping her hand against her forehead.

"God, I am so stupid! I haven't introduced myself yet! I'm Tenten."

"I'm Sakura Haruno."

"That's a nice name, like in the Cherry Blossom?" Sakura smiled, looks like her mother was right after all…

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_Knock, knock, knock!_

"Come in!" An annoyed voice shouted from the other side of the door. Sakura turned the handle and walked into the Principal's office.

"Hello, I am Sakura Haruno and I was informed that I should visit you and collect my timetable and locker number."

"Oh right, yes. Just a minute." and the Principal rummaged through a couple of filing cabinets before she pulled out a sheet of A5 paper and handed it over to Sakura just as the bell went.

The teenager stared down at it.

'_It's Monday today, so that means I have Cooking after Homeroom. And my locker number is 14A. Where the hell is that?'_

"Um, excuse me… miss-"

"Please, call me Tsunade-sensei."

"Ok, um… Tsunade-sensei, where is locker 14A and Cooking class?" she asked, feeling stupid.

"Locker 14A is downstairs right by the front door and your Cooking room is at the back of this floor. By the way, don't forget to go to Homeroom every morning. Who's your mentor?"

Sakura glanced down at her sheet of paper.

"Kakashi-sensei, it says I'm in Leaf. What does that mean?"

"Well, the school is split up into different groups. You are part of the Leaf group. If you have any problems with anything you go to your mentor, which in your case is Kakashi, who also teaches English. Your Homeroom is in R3, which is downstairs opposite the front doors. Make a combination for your locker and drop your stuff off in their, and then go to R3. Kakashi will give you your books there."

Sakura left and did as she was told. She made a combination for her locker, and walked towards R3. It wasn't that hard to find, as there was a little map of the school just inside the front doors. She noticed that there was a little patch of Cherry Blossom trees at the bottom of the field. She made a mental note to visit that place at lunch and maybe have her dinner there.

She knocked on the door to R3 and entered. The class didn't take a bit of notice of her as it was very noisy. People were sitting on desks; others were throwing paper airplanes about, and where was the teacher? Sitting at his desk reading a book.

She walked up to him, and he asked for her name, which she gave. He marked her on the register and told her to sit down. But that was the problem: where was she going to sit? All the chairs seemed to be occupied, and all the desks too. However, when she looked at the back of the class, she found a desk empty right in the corner next to a window. Perfect. She could gaze out of it and watch the world go by as she waited for the next bell to signal the next lesson: Cooking.

_A couple of squirrels were messing around on a fluffy, pink cloud. They seemed to be fighting over an acorn. However, a much bigger squirrel dominated the cloud, snatching the acorn off her babies and ate it for herself. The young looked angrily at their mother as she nibbled. She then chucked the remains off the cloud and watched it plummet into the deep blue abyss. Unfortunately, the squirrels scurried off when a soft whispering sound filled the sky. _

"Hello, anybody in there?"

"Eh? Oh, hello Tenten-san -"

"Just Tenten and I hope we weren't daydreaming up there!" TenTen patted Sakura head while giggling. Sakura smiled back.

"I've come to introduce you to my friends. They've just been dying to meet you!" Sakura looked over to see two other girls behind her.

"Ok, so this is Ino," Tenten pointed to the girl who had long blonde hair tied up in a pony-tail. She had big blue eyes. She was very pretty and could probably get any guy she wanted. However, when she looked more closely Sakura noticed that her features were pulled down into a scowl, although Tenten didn't seem to notice.

"And this is Hinata Hyuuga," the brunette pointed to the other girl. The first thing she noticed straight away was her eyes: ghostly pale with no pupils. Her hair was long and a deep blue. She had a kind expression, even if she did shy away behind Ino.

"Hello Ino-san, hello Hinata-san." Sakura greeted them.

"Please, c-call me Hinata."

Ino started to walk away as soon as she got the chance. Tenten hesitated and looked back at Sakura with an apologetic look.

"Don't mind her. She's just having a bad day." and with that Tenten left with Hinata following behind her.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The bell rang out and Sakura got up from her seat and walked towards the door. Cooking was her next lesson. She walked through the corridors and stopped in front of the map that she saw earlier. However, she then remembered that Tsunade told her that the Cooking class was at the back of the second floor. And that's where she went.

When she walked in, she found that she was a little late and that everyone was already sat down. Everyone was staring at her – again! - but thankfully the teacher spotted her and told her to sit down next to a girl with long red hair.

Sakura looked up at the white board and found some instructions on how to make mini quiches. Then the next thing she new, all the other students (who she realised were all girls) got up from their chairs and went to a work space for them to cook at.

The teacher came up to Sakura and explained that the topic was party food. She also introduced herself as Kurenai.

Now all Sakura had to do was find a place to work. Nearly everywhere was full. She looked around the room and spotted Tenten and her friends; luckily there was a space next to them. Tenten smiled up at her, but she seemed reluctant, it was the same with Hinata. However Sakura heard the blonde, Ino, growl under her breath when Sakura went to the worktop beside Hinata at the end. The ingredients were already laid out in front of her

Whilst Sakura was rubbing the margarine, lard and flour together in her mixing bowl, she felt a flow of cool air rush by her, making her hair sway with it. She turned around and their stood Tenten behind Ino. The brunette placed her fingers on her lips, signaling Sakura to be quiet. The pink-haired girl turned back to her cooking, trying not to raise any suspicion. The next moment she heard a yelp and found Ino attempting to rub something off her back.

Sakura looked at Tenten, who appeared to have flour all over her hands, and then looked at Ino, who seemed to have flour all over her back. She added two and two together and laughed out loud. She just couldn't help herself. However, Ino gave Sakura the most intense death glare.

"What are you laughing at, Forehead?"

This made Sakura feel heavy. She could almost feel herself sinking to the floor. All she wanted to do was curl up in a ball and cover her face with her knees. Ino just had to bring up her old nickname. That was the whole reason why she moved to Konoha… she always got bullied. The thing is, Sakura thought she had grown into her forehead over the past couple of years. Obviously not.

"Girls, Calm down!" the teacher came over and peered over at their cooking in turn.

"Ino, work a little faster; Hinata, perfect; Sakura, perfect, although you could work a little faster aswel; and Tenten, you're supposed to add the milk into the jug along with the cheese. Come on, get cracking!"

Ino got her own back and laughed in Tenten's face, although she never really took her eyes off Sakura.

Sakura popped her twelve raw mini quiches in the oven and closed the door. Hinata was washing up, Ino was drying and Tenten was wiping the tables. There was nothing for her to do. She jumped up onto a clean work surface and sat down. Right behind her was a large window facing towards the field. She could just make out the faint outline of the Cherry Blossom trees that she decided she was going to sit at lunch. It seemed peaceful, especially with the cool breeze gently blowing the leaves about.

"And he shoots, score!" Sakura quickly glanced down to find a group of boys playing football. _'So that's where all the guys are…' _ They were all doing gym. A blonde haired boy was giving a raven haired boy a high-five.

"What you looking at?" Someone came up beside her. It was Ino. So now she suddenly decided to talk to her. However the scowl hadn't seemed to have left her face, making her features look harsh.

"Hm? Oh nothing." The blonde-haired girl began to look out the window too. The boys were now starting to pack away the goalposts and the football. About five seconds later, Hinata came over, closely followed by Tenten, who leaned on Ino's back.

"Oh, look! There's Neji!"

"You say that everytime we have cooking Tenten." Ino replied, rolling her eyes. Tenten just gave her an evil glare.

"Look, Hinata. There's your future husband!" Tenten yelled for the entire world to hear. Good job the window wasn't open.

Hinata went red as everyone looked at her.

"Naruto and Hinata, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-"

"T-Tenten, stop it!" Hinata interrupted her.

"Yeah, Tenten, They're not even boyfriend and girlfriend…"

"Yet!" Tenten added and Hinata looked like she was going to faint. Sakura wondered who Naruto and Neji were, she was going to ask but the boys had gone inside, probably to get changed.

Sakura took her quiches out of the oven and they smelled gorgeous. Tenten's were a little (a lot) burnt around the edges, Ino dropped two of hers on the floor and Hinata's was perfect.

"You'd make a good wife one day Hinata." Tenten stated, making the pale-eyed girl turn red once more.

"And you'd make a magnificent chef one day!" Ino blurted out sarcastically. Tenten told them to shut up.

When the bell finally went Ino, Tenten and Hinata all rushed out the room, leaving Sakura all by herself, which she thought was pretty rude.

She pulled out her planner, wondering what she had next and realised that she had English in E3, wherever that was.

Walking into English (after having a look at the map) she sat down at the only desk available at the back. She was alone once more. Plus the teacher didn't seem to be there yet, neither were the boys.

Finally the guys came in after their lesson of football. They were noisy when they came through the English door, especially a particular blonde. They were all hot and sweaty from Gym, but none of them seemed tired at all.

'_How do they do it?'_ Sakura thought. _'How do they come from a whole session of football and not be tired…?' _

All the boys chatted away like old women, which made Sakura giggle in her seat. Luckily, no one came to sit next to Sakura, but she was upset that TenTen didn't even glance her way.

It was ten minutes into the lesson when she heard her name being said.

"What do you think of the new girl, Sakura, teme?"

"Why should I care?"

"I know what _I _think of her Sasuke-kun. She's a pink-haired freak with an oversized forehead."

This comment made Sakura's eyes prick. What made it worse was that it was unmistakably Ino's voice. She didn't like people who judge books by their covers, people who don't even bother to read the front page. Sakura didn't notice that the red-head from Cooking skipped up to the group, and Ino narrowed her eyes at the new addition to the group.

However, just as Sakura was about to walk out of the classroom (with the excuse that she needed the toilet) the teacher came in at last with his nose buried in a book.

'_At least he's passionate about reading, walking into lesson with a book in his hand. At least the lesson will help me take my mind off things.' _


	2. Akatsuki

The bell finally rung for lunch and Sakura had successfully avoided Ino and crew since English. Now all she had to do was go down to her locker, drop off her stuff, pick up her lunch that she had packed for herself, and walk over to the Cherry Blossom trees for some peace and quiet. The rowdy teenagers in her classes were starting to give her a headache, and a certain blonde seemed to be in most of her classes, and he was the noisiest of them all! Girls were supposed to be chatty, but this guy just didn't stop!

------ FLASHBACK-------

_A boy with blonde hair that stuck out in all directions sat in front of Sakura, blocking her view of the board. She recognized him as the one from Ino's group. She sighed and leaned to the right to get a good view of the board. As soon as the teacher had his back to the board to write lots of mathematic equations for them to complete, the blonde swiveled around on his chair to face her. _

"_Hi! I'm Uzumaki Naruto! I'm guessing you're Haruno Sakura." He spoke quietly. Sakura didn't think this boy knew how to whisper properly. _

"_Yes" She replied. The pink hair must have given her away. She has considered dying it, but then it turned out that she was allergic to the dye. _

"_I've heard that you're really smart and-"_

"_Uzumaki and Haruno! You're on a warning! One more word from either of you and you're on detention after school tonight!"_

'Great. Detention on my first day of school. This blonde better shut the hell up!'

_However, Sakura should have known better. As soon as the teacher turned his back to the students again Naruto started once more._

"_So, why did you move to Konoha?"_

"_I don't know." Sakura decided to be really cold with the blonde. Hopefully he isn't as thick skulled as he looked and notice that she didn't want anybody talking to her at the minute._

"_It's nothing special here. Just trees and birds and cars and trees… wait; I've already said tre-"_

"_Uzumaki and Haruno! You two are on detention tonight in this room! And if you don't show up you're going to have to do double the time!"_

'Great! What am I supposed to tell my mum? I've never had a detention in my life!'

---------END FLASHBACK--------

Unfortunately this never stopped Naruto from asking her questions. She just answered yes or no under her breath hoping he would just shut up, but he just kept showering her with more questions.

'_I mean, he asked me what my mum and dad's name was!'_ She had winced at the mention of her Father, but thankfully the bell rang out for lunch before she had any chance of answering. She rushed out as quickly as she could.

She collected her lunch she walked back to the map and memorized where the Cherry Blossom trees were. However, when Sakura was in sight of the trees and was thinking about the peaceful atmosphere, she noticed some people had already claimed the spot.

'_That doesn't surprise me; it is quite a nice place. As long as its not- oh shit…'_ The group of people that she had been trying to avoid all day was sitting at the tree having there lunch: Ino and everyone. Now she had to find somewhere else to sit.

Walking back towards the map to find where the café was, she bashed into someone and dropped her lunch. Luckily it was in a plastic box and the lid didn't come undone. She said sorry to the person and picked up her lunch. However, when she looked up at the person after she had retrieved her food, she realised that the person that she bumped into was a guy whose face was covered in an orange mask. Sakura tried to suppress a giggled. With the mask on he resembled a lolly-pop.

"Hi! I'm Tobi! Come eat with Tobi and friends because Tobi is a good boy!"

This boy freaked her out.

He wore a bright orange mask.

He resembled a lolly-pop.

He spoke in third person.

"Uh, okay…" Sakura said, stretching out the 'o'. She had nothing else better to do and if it meant that she would have somewhere to eat, then she would go there. Her stomach rumbled in agreement. Plus she might be able to make new friends, although this guy was just plain weird.

She followed him around the back of the school to the opposite side of the field. In the distance she could see other people sitting down eating their lunch. She counted and there were eight of them, and only one of them was a girl.

'_Could the girl be a player? No Sakura. Don't think like that, you don't even know her yet.' _

These people must be Tobi's 'friends'. He skipped over to them and sat down.

"Tobi, who the fuck is this? You know you aren't supposed to bring random people over here! It's Leader's orders!"

'_Leader's orders, what the hell…?' _ Sakura thought.

"But Hidan, Tobi is a good boy! She's the new junior and she was lost so I decided to help!"

'_I was not lost. You bumped into me.' _Sakura protested in her head. _'Oh my god, please don't tell me he said Hidan. Please don't be that guy from his morning!' _

"A junior! Hmpf!" A blonde guy said. He looked a bit like a girl at first glance, but the deep voice gave it away. He also had really long hair.

"This is your fault Tobi if Leader disapproves. Not ours. The blame is on you." The women said. She had blue hair. Sakura was relieved that she wasn't the only one with an unusual hair colour. However she might have dyed it.

She felt a little out of place just standing there. Sakura didn't know whether to sit down and have something to eat or just walk off. However, before she could make the decision, a guy with auburn spiky hair walked up to the group. He noticed Sakura and eyed her suspiciously.

"And who are you?" he asked in a not-so-friendly voice.

"H-haruno Sakura sir." Did she just say that? Why did she just call him sir? Where did that come from? She blushed when she realised what she said and looked at the ground, finding it very interesting at that moment. It must have been the aura that he was giving off, like he was in charge of everything.

He smirked when she called him sir. "Who brought you here?"

"I did! Tobi is a good boy!"

'_That is the third time he has said that in five minutes!'_

"Tobi, you know the rules."

"I know, Leader. But she was lost and Tobi decided to be her friend. Please let her hang around with us."

'_So this is who they call Leader…' _ Sakura thought.

'Leader' glanced at everyone's faces, leaving the woman's last. He lingered on it for a while until she spoke up.

"I think it would be good to have another female around. It would give me some company and I could finally have girly chats."

"You have Deidara for that, Konan." One of the guys laughed. His skin and hair was tinted with blue and his eyes were really small, almost shark like. The blonde that had spoken earlier smacked the shark-boy around the head while saying "Bastard!" So he must be Deidara.

"Do not tell anyone about this place." and with that 'Leader' walked over to Konan and sat down.

Sakura remember Tenten's warning that morning and debated whether to sit down or not.

"They belong to a group of eight others who call themselves the 'Akatsuki'. Take my advice: Don't. Go. Anywhere. Near. Them. Again."

'Oh well,' she thought 'Tenten betrayed me so I can do whatever I want to do. Stuff her advice!'

So Sakura did the same as the 'Leader and sat down to eat her lunch, listening to everyone's separate conversations. None of them really bothered her. Most of them ignored her. It was really only Tobi, Konan and the red-head Sasori that spoke to her. She found out that the shark-boy was named Kisame, the guy with green hair was called Zetsu, the 'Leader's' real name is Pein, and the guy with black hair tied in a loose pony tail was called Itachi. Apparently he had a brother in Sakura's year called Sasuke but the two brothers don't get on. She already knew Kakuzu and Hidan. However later she found out that Hidan had a very bad swearing problem.

'_A bunch of misfits all come together to form a group. I guess I'll fit right in then…'_


	3. Sasuke

After lunch Tobi had offered to walk Sakura to her next lesson: Gym. However when they walked past the Basketball courts Sakura noticed quite a few people were playing on it. Didn't Tsunade say that know one was allowed on the outdoor Basketball court except for the school's team?

She was mesmerized by how good there skills were. It almost looked like they were dancing, not tackling each other. A brunette walked up to the only blonde on the court and rubbed his fist into the blonde's hair.

'_Boys…' _ Sakura thought.

Just then one of the players scored a basket. He was easily the most handsome of the guys, with his raven coloured hair and what looked like onyx eyes from this distance. He also looked extremely bored.

"Oh yeah, Tobi almost forgot! Tobi has got to speak to his cousin about something!"

Tobi then ran off towards the court gate. He opened it and ran up to one of the players: the raven haired one. Sakura didn't know what to do. Should she stay where she is?

In the end she followed him. The other two brunettes glanced suspiciously at Sakura, whereas the other three didn't even seem to acknowledge her existence.

"Sasuke! Oi, Sasuke-chan!"

This caught the teenager's attention. Sakura giggled at the way Tobi addressed his cousin. When she got up closer to the cousin she noticed that he was really handsome. Sakura couldn't take her gaze off him.

"Do not call me that Tobi."

"Well then Sasuke should listen to Tobi the first time!"

"What do you want?" Tobi's cousin asked in a hard, cold tone.

'_Typical, all the good looking guys are always arrogant…_ ' Sakura thought.

"Tobi was wondering whether the Christmas party is going to be held at Sasuke's or Tobi's house."

"Tobi, there's a whole month until Christmas; my parents haven't even spoke of it yet."

"But there is so much to do! There's the food, the decorations…"

"If you're so bothered then go and ask my parents." Sasuke interrupted coldly. Sakura narrowed her eyes at Sasuke. She couldn't believe this guy! He talks to his own cousin as if he was a piece of dirt. However Tobi didn't seem to mind. He was probable used to it.

"What are you looking at, Pinky?"

This caught Sakura's attention. She narrowed her eyes even more so that they were almost closed. How dare he call her Pinky! She had just gotten enough of people picking on her. She was about to say one of her own comebacks but got interrupted mid-breath. Hanging on the end of Sasuke's arm was the red-haired girl from cooking, and behind her were Ino, Tenten and Hinata. The red-head was snuggling into Sasuke's elbow and Ino's face turned into a scowl, whether that was because of the red-head or Sakura, she'd never know.

"Would you get off me?"

"But Sasuke-kun, we go out now so I can do whatever I like." The red-head replied.

"Since when have you been my girlfriend, Karin?" Sasuke asked while shaking her off his arm violently. She almost fell on the floor. By this point all the other basketball players came over to investigate, and Sakura recognized the blonde as Naruto… the one that she has to spend after school with for detention.

"Since I asked you and you said yes." Karin replied. Was that hurt deep in her eyes? On the other hand, Ino's face lit up like this was the best thing she has ever witnessed. That's probably why she was in such a bad mood this morning; a girl was going out with her crush. It was easy to read Ino's eyes.

"I didn't say… When did you ask me?"

"Yesterday, why?"

"You idiot, I was talking to Naruto on the phone. I would never go out with you." Karin definitely looked hurt now.

"But you said-"

"I said yes to Naruto when he asked me whether basketball practice was on, so get lost."

'_Oh my god, he is so mean! You must be a glitch in your brain if you would want to go out with him!'_

"Uh… okay, c'mon Sakura, lessons start in five minutes." Sakura had almost forgotten Tobi was still present.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

In Gym Sakura they were playing Basketball, and she had been placed in the same team as Ino, and at the minute she was playing against the recently rejected Karin. She felt sorry for her. That jerk Sasuke needs a wake up call sometime soon! Before the game started Sakura walked up to Karin and braved talking to her.

"I'm so sorry about Sasuke. He is such a jerk. He needs a taste of his own medicine."

"Don't you dare talk about Sasuke-kun like that! He is the best guy on this Earth and he would never go out with someone like you." And she stormed off.

'_I wasn't implying that…' _ Sakura was about to go after the red-head and tell her that but the whistle sounded for the start of the game. Why did that always happen? Whenever she was going to throw back an insult she got cut off. People will probably think she was weak if this kept going on.

"Haruno! Keep your eye on the ball!" The Gym teacher shouted. She found out that his name was Guy-sensei. She looked behind her to find that the basketball had rolled inches away from her and was now off the court. It was now the other team's ball.

'_Focus, Sakura!' _

She noticed that the ball was flying into Karin's hands and decided to intercept it. She jumped off the ground through the air as she was only a couple of feet away. Her fingertips just brushed the ball when she got the breath knocked out of her. She fell to the ground and hit Karin on the way with her hand by accident. When she caught her breath she looked around to find Ino crouched on the floor staring daggers at her. Sakura never saw her going to the ball otherwise she wouldn't have done anything.

"You bitch! Now look what you've done! I could have got the ball if you hadn't intervened!"

"I didn't mean-"

"Get of me!" This time it was Karin's voice. Sakura swiveled her head around to find that she had fallen onto Karin's leg.

"I'm so sorry, I-"

"I don't want your apologies Forehead." Karin interrupted. Sakura narrowed her eyes once again that afternoon and began to get up.

"What's all the racket over there? What's gone off! Why have you all stopped the game of Youth?" The teacher jogged over to the pile of girls, "Oh my, are you young ladies alright? Are you hurt? Do you need to go to the nurse?"

"We're fine, Sensei." Ino replied. She got up and stormed over to Tenten and Hinata who were also on Sakura's team.

"Well, that's good to hear. Don't want to spoil your Youth, do we? This lesson can finish early." As soon those words left the teachers lips, Sakura ran into the changing rooms and hurried home. However, when she was around the corner from her house, she remembered that she had a detention that night.

'_Shit…' _ She thought.


	4. Detention

Walking back into school, Sakura got a lot of funny looks. This time it wasn't because of the colour of her hair, but because she was walking the wrong way. She was rushing, almost running back to the detention room that her Maths teacher had told her. Consequently she kept bumping into people and got rewarded with curses and insults from the other students. However, one time she bashed into someone so hard she almost lost her balance and fell over.

"Ah fuck, watch out where you're going midget!" the person complained. Sakura was rubbing her shoulder where she had collided with guy.

"I'm sorry, I have to-"

"Sakura? Where are you off to? It the end of fucking school, time to go home! Unless your one of those nerds…" Sakura looked up to find one of the Akatsuki, the one from that morning. What was his name again…?

"Oh, hello Hidan. I've got to go somewhere, I-"

"Look, I'm sorry about this morning, alright? I didn't mean-"

"I'm so sorry Hidan but I really have to go. See, I've got detention and I forgot about it. I'm already late." However inside Sakura's head she was saying _'Is he only apologizing because I now hang around with the Akatsuki?'_

Finally she got to where she needed to be and she found Naruto crouched down on the floor beside the door waiting for the teacher to arrive. There were also other people that had detention but luckily they ignored her. There was no need for her to panic then for being late…

"Sakura-chan! I thought you weren't going to come!"

'_Sakura-chan, what the hell?' _ She thought.

"Oh hi, Naruto, where's the teacher?" She asked, it had been almost fifteen minutes since the end of school.

"He's not here yet," he answered. _'Yes I can see that' _Sakura thought. "And he's normally never late! Always early. Anyway he's the science teacher and he's such a creep! I swear he was a snake in his past life! He's names Orochimaru-sensei. I hope he's ill."

Another ten minutes and all the other people started to walk home one by one. Then Naruto had had enough and started to walk away to go home.

"Where do you think you're going Naruto?" A voice said. Sakura thought it was very familiar.

"K-kakashi-sensei, I-I was just going to the toilet but I don't need it anymore. Hahaha…" he said while scratching the back of his head.

"Naruto, I know you were about to leave."

"But I've been waiting for twenty-five minutes, Sensei! Where's Orochimaru sensei? Everyone else has gone home."

"Orochimaru-Sensei is ill so I'm taking over detentions for today. Now get inside." Kakashi was saying this while he was unlocking the door to the classroom.

Sakura walked in behind Naruto and sat down at the back corner near a window. She loves sitting in back corners near a window, hardly anyone notices her and the teacher hardly ever picks on her in class. Naruto sat down at the desk in front of her. Great, now she won't be able to get any piece.

"Ok, I don't care what you do but no talking." and the teacher sat down and read the book that he always seems to be reading, even while teaching.

Sakura got her iPod out of her bag and started listening to it when she found a folded piece of lined paper on her desk. It was just about to fall off the side when she caught it. She unfolded it and read the contents.

_Hi Sakura-chan! So… how you doing?_

She sighed but got a pen out from her bag all the same.

_I'm good_ she wrote back. She tapped him on his shoulder and he took it off her.

_So… who do you hand 'round with now?_

'_Akatsuki' _she really couldn't be bothered to write a proper sentence. It took Naruto a while to answer back.

_Oh my god, the Akatsuki! They're a bunch of dickheads. Well, except for Itachi, he's alright. Did you know Itachi is my best friend's older brother! They don't get along that well. _

_Hey, don't dis them! They're actually quite nice._

However, before Naruto could write back, there was a knock on the door and the raven-haired boy walked in. Sakura tried her best not to look at him, but she couldn't help it, he was just so gorgeous! To bad he's such a jerk…

"A bit late aren't we, Sasuke."

"I'm not here for detention"

"Oh, then care to explain why you are hear then?"

"I'm here to take Naruto home." he explained in a tone that suggested that everyone should know that.

"Oh yes, well you two can go home." at this Sakura packed her pen and iPod away and walked out the room. In the process her shoulder brushed Sasuke's arm and she blushed. He didn't seem to notice though.

Sakura had just walked through her front door when her mum shouted her from the kitchen.

"Where the hell have you been? I've been worried sick."

_Guess I've got a lot of explaining to do. Too bad I forgot to take my phone to school then I could have text her.'_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A couple of days later nothing really changed. She was still avoiding Ino and everyone; however it is quite hard to ignore Naruto. He was quite friendly and she was beginning to befriend him. She still hung round with the Akatsuki and had made a couple of friends. Konan and Sasori were really nice to her and she normally talked to them at lunch.

She was in Gym again as they have it twice a week and they were still on Basketball.

"Right girls, because of your poor performance last time I have asked the schools Basketball team to help you and give you some pointers."

Sakura looked around to find Naruto waving at her and the rest of the basketball team sitting on a bench near the wall. She waved back slightly and turned back to the teacher.

"They have kindly given up there time to help you get better in this sport of Youth. I will split you up into five teams, who will each have one person from the basketball team."

_Great. I hope I get Naruto, I don't really know the other guys… why did all the Akatsuki have to be seniors! I haven't really got any friends in my year except Naruto!'_

The Sensei went through most of the names and she found out that the other players names were Shikamaru Nara, Kiba Inuzuka and Neji Hyuuga.

"Sakura Haruno, Ino Yamanaka and Hinata Hyuuga, you're going to be with Sasuke Uchiha."

'_Oh, that's just great…'_


	5. Enter Rock Lee!

"You hold the ball like… no, Ino if you don't stop it you're going to poke someone's eye out!"

Ino was, to put it nicely, crap at basketball. She was flinging her arms everywhere when trying to get the ball, bashing into people, and she misses completely when she's trying to aim for a basket. Sasuke was trying his best to teach her, just wasn't listening. It was like she was in her own little world.

"Oh Sasuke-kun! Did you know that I…"

Sakura was told by Sasuke to practice shooting hoops with Hinata. By the time she had scored five baskets out of the twenty she had attempted, Hinata spoke up for the first time.

"I-I'm sorry about I-Ino…"

Sakura was taken by surprise by this. "Uh, it's ok. There's no need to apologize…"

"Y-Yes there is, she doesn't even k-know you yet she doesn't l-like you."

"Nah," Sakura said, waving her hand like she was brushing it off, "I'm kinda used to it by now."

"W-What do y-you mean?"

She was actually surprised that someone wanted to listen. "Well, in my old school I used to get bullied a lot for several reasons and I hardly had any friends, and when I did make some the bullies would used make up shit about me to scare them away."

"I-I'm so sorry, I d-didn't know..." Hinata replied quietly, looking at the ground.

"It's fine Hi-"

"Ok, you two, lets see what you've got." Sakura turned around to see Sasuke standing behind her with his hands in his pockets, a bored expression on his face.

"Y-yes, Sasuke-san." Hinata replied. In the background Sakura could still hear Ino rambling on about something. Then she heard a "Hey Sasuke-kun, what're you doing? You're supposed to be teaching me!" Sasuke rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to Hinata and Sakura.

Hinata aimed for the hoop and the basketball went through. She tried another time and she scored another basket. Sakura then realised that she only missed a couple when they were practicing a couple of minutes ago.

"Well done Hinata. You, it's your turn."

'_Charming.'_

'_**You know my name so why don't you use it! Cha!'**_ Ino Sakura yelled in her head.

She sighed and aimed her basketball. She threw it but it bounced off the edge of the hoop and back down to the floor. Sakura stared daggers at the ball and then she heard Sasuke tutt.

'_Did he just tutt at me? Why I…!'_

"You timing is all wrong and your aim isn't that good. Here…" and he took the ball off Sakura and shot a basket himself.

Sakura just stared at him until he said "What?" in an annoyed voice.

"You make it look so easy."

"It is."

Sakura growled inwardly and took another shot. It missed once more. She heard Sasuke sigh and he walked over to her so that he was right behind her.

He told her to hold her arms like she would if she was about to shoot.

"See, your arms are to floppy." He took her arms and moved them to the right position.

"So then when you jump you move your arm like that and it should go in." And he moved her arms as if she was going to shoot a basket.

"Let's try it with a ball. Hinata pass me that basketball."

'_Please.'_ Sakura thought.

He put the ball in Sakura's hands and moved her hands so they were holding the ball right. She could feel his breath down her neck and shivered.

"Ok and now you shoot." And he moved her arms and the ball went cleanly in the basket.

"Oh my god, I did it!"

"Let's see if you can do it on your own."

"What?"

"Try it."

'_Damn it!'_

She did try it and she got it in. She shouted a little "Yeeeesss!" when the teacher shouted for them all to pack up and go and get changed. Sakura was about to take the two balls back that was under both of her arms when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned around to find Sasuke.

"Good shooting today, you just need some more practice. Here, I'll take those." She passed him her balls and he walked off. She just stared after him.

'_Not so much a jerk after all…' _

On her way out, Hinata caught up to her and also congratulated her on her shooting.

"Thanks, how come you're so good? You only missed a couple of shots!"

"Um, my c-cousin Neji is on t-the basketball t-team."

'_Oh, that explains the eyes…' _She had noticed that one of the basketball players, Neji, had the exact same eyes as Hinata. The same pale colour with no pupil.

"Ino doesn't l-like you because of your pink hair or a-anything, it's because she d-doesn't want anyone else to h-hang around with Sasuke. She doesn't want anymore c-competition."

"More competition?"

"Y-yes. He is really p-popular with the girls. He even h-has his own f-fan-club. B-but he seems to h-hate all of them, y-you saw the i-incident with K-Karin on M-Monday didn't you?"

"So Ino thinks I'm gunna get a crush on Sasuke! Hahaha. He is good looking and all, but he can be quite a jerk at times. Although…"

"Hinata! Get over here now! I need to talk to you for a moment!" It was Ino's voice.

"U-um, I've got to g-go. I-m probably going to g-get a telling off f-from her." And she laughed along with Sakura.

"Yeah, see ya!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The next day, the senior year had to go on a trip to a nursery plant centre for science, so Sakura was all on her own at lunch. She didn't feel like eating her lunch in the normal place because it was just so big she would feel a bit lonely, especially because no one else knows about it. Instead she sat down against a wall at the side of the school.

Lunch seemed to be going by really slow until a shadow came up to Sakura and blocked out her sun. She looked up to see a boy with massive eyebrows and a bowl haircut.

"Hello, my little cherry blossom! I have heard so much about you from Naruto! Can I sit with you today?" Sakura sweat dropped when he told her that he heard from Naruto.

'_That boy, he can't keep his mouth shut! And what the hell, _my little cherry blossom!'

As Sakura was about to answer she noticed that the boy had already sat down next her and got his lunch out.

"My name is Rock Lee! But you can just call me Lee!"

"Uh, right –"

"I'm the mascot for the schools basketball team! I love basketball, it's the game of youth! Do you like basketball?"

'_He sounds a lot like Guy-sensei, and looks like him too. It's too freaky!'_

"It's, erm, a cool game?"

"Yup, when you go to the next basketball game which is against sand next month, you will see me in a ninja costume! I wear a bright green jumpsuit and even a forehead protector!"

"Right, I'll try and remember." Sakura replied sarcastically. Who could not point out a guy in a bright green jumpsuit?

"So, why did you move here? Is it because this school holds the power of youth?"

"Uh, not really. I don't really want to talk about it."

"You can tell me, my little cherry blossom!"

This guy was starting to piss Sakura off.

"Look, it's kind of private, anyway I've got somewhere to go, bye." And she walked off. However, Lee got up and followed her.

"So, have you met guy-sensei yet? You must have done as he's the gym teacher. He is so awesome! He's like my idol and –"

"Lee, you are just about to walk into the ladies toilet."

"Eh? Oh sorry, I'll wait out here for you."

Sakura's eyebrow twitched but she sighed. She didn't really need the toilet, just somewhere where she could get away from Lee. It was the first thing that came into her head. She leant against the wall and planned on staying there until the bell went. However, when she looked around she found that there was another door on the other side of the room. She walked over to it and turned the handle. It was open. She opened the door to find that it was the gym that was on the other side.

'_Perfect! Lee won't know where I've gone!' _So she ran through the gym and to her next lesson, English. Then she remembered she had Naruto in that lesson. She just can't escape.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Friday afternoon, Sakura was at her locker collecting her books to take home as it was the end of the day. She was talking to Naruto as his locker was right next to hers. He was talking about ramen and didn't even realise that Sakura wasn't even listening. However he shut up when the intercom came on. Everyone stopped talking to see what the principle had to say. However it wasn't the principles voice that came on, it was he assistants, Shizune.

"Students of Konoha High, this is Shizune speaking. I am here to announce that-"

"Shizune, where have you put my damned bottle of sake?"

"Uh, Tsunade-sama, I'm on intercom talking the school and everyone can hear you."

"Ok, give me that! Alright students, if anyone has seem my bottle of sake please return it to-"

"Tsunade-sama!"

There was rustling noise heard in the background as Sakura thought _'what the hell?'_ The principle and Shizune was obviously fighting over the microphone. Sakura looked at Naruto and Naruto looked at Sakura. The blonde just shrugged. Then Shizune's voice came back on. However you could still hear Tsunade's voice in the background cursing an awful lot.

"Sorry about that. Anyway, I was saying that whoever gets the best grade between now and Friday next week gets to watch and take part in the school basketball teams practice sessions. Also the chosen person will go behind the scenes in the upcoming basketball game against sand next month!"

After the intercom went off there was silence, and then every single girl in the facility screamed there heads off, shouting "Sasuke-kun, oh my god I will get to be with Sasuke-kun." Even the boys were pretty excited about going to the basketball teams practice.

"Did you know about this?" Sakura asked Naruto.

"Yep! You better get the top grades Sakura because I don't want any of Sasuke's fan girls winning. That would be horrible!"

"Naruto, I don't really want to –"

"Anyway, I've got to go, teme is waiting for me!" and he ran off towards Sasuke's car. Sakura had gotten used to Naruto's nickname for Sasuke, it quite suited him.

'_I don't really want to win this…'_


	6. The winner is!

The next day Sakura had Maths again with Asuma Sarutobi. The last time she walked into his lesson she got a detention because of Naruto. She will just have to try and ignore him for an hour. It shouldn't be too hard.

Sakura was daydreaming again about how to ignore Naruto when she crashed into someone and dropped all her books on the polished floor.

"Watch it!" the person said, who sounded very annoyed. It was definitely a boy as his voice was deep. She looked up to see the infamous Sasuke Uchiha glaring right at her.

**Oh yeah! Sasuke Uchiha is in the building! Make a move girl!**

"Shut up." she thought to her inner self.

"Excuse me?" Uh-oh, she had said it out loud. Curse you inner self!

"I…er, nothing." She caught herself blushing and got very annoyed with herself.

"Whatever." and he walked off. He didn't even bother to pick up Sakura's books that were scattered around her feet. She clenched her hands into fists and had the sudden urge to scream.

'_That good for nothing JERK!' _

Walking into Maths she found that Naruto was waving enthusiastically towards her. She gave a little smile in return and took a step forward to sit down at her normal table behind him. However, the teacher told her to sit at the front next to the girl called Karin. The pinkette and the red-head glared at each other for a couple of seconds and then Sakura sat down.

About half way into the lesson Asuma picked on her to answer a question.

"Haruno, what is the circumference of the circle if the radius is three?"

She worked it out quickly in her head.

"Eight,-" then she remembered that she didn't want to spend time playing basketball everyday after school, " er, nineteen point three four?" _'Dammit, now everyone's going to think I'm stupid as they all know me as a genius'_

"Erm, no sorry. It's eighteen point eight four. I thought you'd get that one Haruno." Karin sniggered at Sakura getting it wrong.

'_Well, at least I worked it out right in my head. Screw you Karin'_

The lesson went by really slowly while sitting next to Karin. Thankfully though the bell went and everyone got ready to go to their next class. However, when Sakura was walking past Karin's chair she tripped over something and fell flat on her face. She looked around to see Karin's foot sticking out from under the table as she hadn't stood up yet.

"Oh my gosh, Sakura-chan are you alright?" It was Naruto. He rushed over and held her upright. "Aww man, your bleeding pretty badly. You're going to have to go to the nurse." Naruto said. Sakura noticed that his eyes were full of worry. " Sir, I'm taking Sakura to the nurse, she's bleeding."

Sakura didn't care where it was bleeding, all she knew was that it fucking hurt.

The two walked into the nurse's office with Naruto carrying most of her weight. When she sat down she noticed that two players off the basketball team were there, Kiba Inuzuka and that damned Uchiha.

"Hey Sasuke, another fight?" Naruto asked his best friend.

"No, Kiba's the one that got into the fight." After Sasuke had said that she could see that Kiba had an ice pack to his ankle and a few scratched on his face.

Then Shizune, the nurse, walked in from the supply cupboard and looked at Sakura.

"Oh my, you're in a bit of a mess. Kiba, you can go now." she said while she dabbed Sakura's nose with a damp cloth. "That's good news, it isn't broken." Sakura sighed out in relief as she was instructed to pinch the bridge of her nose to stop the bleeding.

"Shizune, I need some help with all this paperwork!" Tsunade's voice shouted over the speakers on Shizune's desk. The nurse gave Sakura an apologetic smile and said through the microphone, "Coming, Tsunade-sama. Sasuke-san, I need you to look after Sakura's wounds for me seeing as you're the only one with medical knowledge in this room. Naruto you can leave now." Luckily Sasuke and Kiba hadn't walked out the room yet.

"But Shizune-!"

"No buts Naruto, you can help Kiba get to his class. Look, I really have to go, you know how Tsunade-sama can get when she's annoyed." Naruto and Kiba shivered.

'_Great, I'm stuck here on my own with _the _Teme.'_ Sakura thought. She'd taken a liking to Naruto's nickname for him.

Naruto and Kiba had hobbled out of the room together while tripping over each others feet. It made Sakura giggle under her breath.

"OW!" She felt a sharp jolt of pain go through her forehead and right through her body. She hadn't noticed Sasuke was knelt down in front of her with a bloody cloth in his hands.

"Look, I can't clean you're wound if you keep moving. And it doesn't hurt that much."

"Well, so-rry. It's not my fault you didn't tell me you were going to do that. Most nurses would tell you when it's going to hurt so you can be prepared for it – OWWW!"

Sasuke sighed as he pulled away again. "It's not my fault you're a wimp."

Sakura glared at him _'Payback time.'_ she thought, and she kicked him right where it hurts.

"OWWW, you fucking-!"

"Now who's the wimp?" It took him time to recover from the blow that Sakura gave him before he could answer.

"Do you want you're wound cleaned or not? It's not my problem if it gets infected."

"No, but I could blame it on you that you didn't do your job properly."

"I don't work here. I'm only doing it because I have to. Plus it gets me out of lesson."

"You're the one missing out on your education." Sakura argued back.

"You're one to talk."

"I have perfectly good grades, I can afford to loose out on half an hour of Cooking."

He chuckled under his breath at that. Sakura glared at him.

"You think I'm like Naruto? I'm a straight A student just like you. So quit you're whining."

"You sound like my mother – OWW! You did that on purpose!"

"Just shut up so I can get this over and done with." and the two glared at each other for the rest of the time.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"That jerk! The nerve of him! Someone should take the stupid stick out of his ass and – "

"Who's got a stick up their ass?" Sakura looked up to see bright blue hair with a white origami flower in it.

"Oh nobody. Just that Sasuke needs a punch in the face!" she answered Konan.

"Whoa, calm down. What did he say?"

"Insulting me, although I did kick him in the balls."

"Ouch, that's harsh Sakura. But he does deserve it, he's always like that. He's just a pretty-faced boy that needs a reality check. Even his own brother thinks so."

It was lunch time and they were walking down to where they normally sat with the rest of the Akatsuki. Sakura asked how it went on the trip to the nursery plant centre and apparently Zetsu was in his element, Tobi got tangled up in vines, Deidara shouted bomb in the middle of the centre and all the security guards rushed over, Kakuzu kept complaining that all the plants were a waste of money and Hidan kept swearing as he tripped over stems hanging over the path, and he kept getting told off by the guide for his language. Sakura giggled all the way through it. She wished she could have gone with them, if only she was one year older!

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was Friday, the day that the person with the best overall grade was picked and will be able to spend time with the school's basketball team after school while they practiced. Also they will be able to go behind the scenes in the next match against sound. '_How delightful…'_ Sakura thought, thick with sarcasm.

Walking into the school gates Sakura heard footsteps behind her and then they were right next to her. She turned around to see Lee. She hadn't seen him since the day before this whole competition was announced.

"Hey, my little Cherry Blossom. I haven't seen you in ages! How are you?"

"Fine." '_He hasn't said the word Youth yet… thank God.'_

"Guy-sensei has got the results in for the competition and you're grade have fallen Sakura-chan! You are letting down you're youth," Sakura sweat dropped. " But I know that you are a genius, and the scores that were from when you first came here were almost matching Sasuke-kun's! I'll have some words of youth to Guy-sensei and see if you can be the winner! That fall you had a couple of days ago must have affected your ability to learn! Make sure to come to the Assembly after school! See you!"

"Eh? NO, no Lee! LEE!" But it was too late, he had already gone. The last thing she wanted was to play Basketball. It would bring up memories from her past.

_NO DAMMIT!' _ She screamed in her head.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

In Assembly Sakura was wedged between Naruto and some random girl. She had asked Naruto earlier and no one from the basketball team except for Sasuke knew about who the winner was (as he was the captain). Sakura could just hope that Lee couldn't find the coach or he had refused Lee's offer.

"Right, settle down kids! I know you hardly have Assemblies anymore as I truly cannot be bothered with all of this, but as you know it is the day that we all find out who wins this competition. So Guy, over to you." Tsunade said, looking bored out of her brains.

"Hello, my children of Youth! I have ordered an Assembly because I wanted to meet the girl in person. Yes, it is a girl!" All the girls screamed, and the one next to Sakura nearly screamed a whole in the pinkette's ear drum. "Oh my, aren't we all full of Youth today!"

There was a 'get on with it Guy.' from the principle and Guy carried on. "Sorry, so the winner of this competition is a new girl-"

'_Oh no, oh no. oh no…' _Sakura panicked.

"And that girl of Youth is called Haruno Sakura! Come down here Sakura so I can give you the times of the practices!"

'_Oh no…'_

Naruto was jumping up and down on his seat and pushing Sakura foreward. Lee ran up to her through the angry mop of fangirls who were staring daggers at her and dragged her to the stage.

"Hello, Sakura! Congratulations! Here is your time table. The first session starts tomorrow so don't forget to bring your Gym kit as you will be joining in! You can go home early if you want so you can tell your parents the great news!" And he ushered her out the Hall doors.

All she could think about when she was walking home was '_Oh no…'_


	7. Feedback

When Sakura was walking to school all she could think about was basketball. Nothing could take her mind off it, not even when Konan said that Ino had gotten rejected by Sasuke Uchiha again. In fact, instead of feeling angry, she felt a little bit sorry for Ino; it must be hard to get rejected. On the way to her class, Hinata waved hello to her and there was no sign of Tenten and Ino. The pinkette walked up to her as she was in her next class: History.

"Hey Sakura-chan. How are you?" Hinata asked politely.

"I'm stressed, tired, hungry and pissed off all at the same time. But I'm fine."

"It can't be that bad, it's just basketball"

'_Yeah, but I don't really want to bring up my past.' _ Sakura thought.

They walked into lesson and sat in their usual seats. Ino and Tenten weren't in their History class so Hinata didn't have to worry about getting a telling off from them. Tenten wasn't that bad and didn't really mind if Hinata spoke to Sakura, but Ino hated it and all because she doesn't want Sasuke to get another fangirl.

However, Lee happened to be in their class, and he always sat in front of the two girls. He never stopped talking like Naruto, but luckily the teacher didn't seem to care. Although this day Sakura didn't want to talk to hi, as she knew what the conversation was going to be about.

"Psst, Sakura-chan, I can't wait until tonight! Can you? The coach has arranged the training session so that you can join to and we can teach you a few moves! Cool, huh? So what do you want to do first, shooting, dribbling, tackling…?"

And Sakura switched off at that point. Her mind kept drifting to her dad, who she didn't want to think about because it would just make her tear up.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

At the end of school Sakura thought about walking straight home, and she would have done if it wasn't for Naruto and Kiba running up to her and practically dragging her off to the Gym. When she arrived at the Gym she had to get changed into her Gym kit that she brought because Guy-Sensei told her to. When she walked into the Gym she saw that most of the players had already gotten into a game, and Neji had the basketball.

"That's it Neji, pass the ball to Sasuke. Great catch! Now Sasuke is dribbling the ball towards the net. Oh, Naruto tries to get the ball of him! Go on Sasuke, you can do it! And he scores! Woo!"

'_I don't even need to watch the game, all I need to listen to is the coach's running commentary.' _

"Sensei, can you stop doing that! It is so annoying!" Naruto yelled from the other side of the court, and most of the players seemed to agree with him.

"Get on the court and practice Naruto! Oh, hi Sakura! Glad you could make it!" The coach shouted. He jogged over to where Naruto, Kiba and Sakura were stood and practically dragged Sakura onto the court.

"I want to see what moves you have! You must be so full of Youth!"

"I'm really not that good at Basketball Sensei, maybe I should just watch."

"Nonsense! Come on; show us what you can do! You can tackle the team leader, Sasuke!"

Sasuke looked up in the middle of shooting at the sound of his name. He then threw the Basketball effortlessly and it went straight through the hoop. He gave Guy a questioning look until he explained what he had to do and then he walked to the middle of the court bouncing the Basketball. The coach pushed Sakura into the middle of the court where Sasuke was standing.

"I want you to try and get the ball off Sasuke and dribble it to the other side!" the coach announced.

The Uchiha smirked. He was obviously over-confident and probably no one had over beaten him before. He bounced the ball a couple of times, waiting for Sakura to attack.

Focusing on the ball and nothing else, Sakura lunged for Sasuke. He swiveled around so that his back was facing her. He had put his body in between her and the ball. Then he side-stepped and turned around to face her, but she was no longer right in front of him. He had no one blocking him so he could get to the other side. He started to run, and Sakura cursed. She ran after him, and eventually caught up with him. She put herself in front of him and she heard him curse. He nearly tripped over her. With Sasuke pre-occupied with trying not to trip over, she seized her chance and grabbed the ball off him and started to sprint to the other side of the court whilst dribbling the ball, with Sasuke not far behind her.

"Go Sakura-chan!" Lee and Naruto shouted in unison. The others were purely shocked. No one had ever gotten the ball off Sasuke Uchiha other than Gaara from Sand. However, before Sakura got to the other side, Sasuke caught up to her, snatched the ball off her and ran to the other side. Before Sakura had even noticed she didn't have the ball anymore Sasuke was about ten metres away from the edge of the court. There was no point in trying to catch up to him. Sasuke had won, but Sakura put up a good fight.

The couch blinked at her. "Wow, Sakura! That was amazing!" he shouted after he had come out of his daze. Sakura and Sasuke were both panting, trying to catch there breath.

"Now Sakura, as much as I want to see more of your play, I would like you to give feedback to the other players." The couch said, making hand signs to signal to the basketball team that he wants them to have a game of basketball. They split into two teams. Naruto, Neji and Shikamaru were on one team, whereas Sasuke, Kiba and Lee were on the other. Because there were an odd number of players, Lee had to join in aswel.

The boys started playing and Sakura got that same impression that they were dancing. When they had been playing for a couple of minutes, it was one all. Because she hadn't said anything, Guy kept encouraging her to give feedback. She didn't really want to incase the others took it the wrong way. She had a basketball in her hand so that she was doing something.

"Er, Naruto, you could help Sasuke a bit more and Lee could stop running around everywhere and actually try and intercept the ball."

"Good point Sakura! Lee, actually play basketball! Don't just run around the court!" the coach ordered.

"Shikamaru could participate in the game more instead of just standing there." Sakura pointed out.

"Very good. Shikamaru is normally the brains of the group and the laziest. Shikamaru, get a move on!"

"Sasuke could let the other guys shoot for once." This wasn't exactly true, but she couldn't pick on the others and not give feedback on Sasuke. She actually thought he didn't need any, but she thought she would say it anyway.

"I am doing! Why don't you come down here and have a go if you think you're that good!" Sasuke shouted at the pink-haired teenager. Sakura was taken aback.

"I'm just giving you some feedback like I am doing to the others! It wouldn't be fair if I didn't give you any. What makes you so special?" Sakura answered back.

"I don't really want you here, but I was forced to except it by the head teacher and the coach! I don't need your stupid feedback. Why don't you just run home to mummy and daddy?"

The mention of her dad brought tears to her eyes. She gripped the basketball in her hands to try and stop her from walking over to him and punching his pretty face. Instead she walked up to him and threw the basketball at him when he had turned around to play again. She then ran out of the gym before he could say anything more. The last thing she heard was Naruto:

"Haha! I can't believe the basketball actually hit you on the head, teme! I wish I had a camera!"

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Sorry for the really long update! I just want to say thanks for all my reviews!

**uchihablossom0626, iHyperNeko, EdwardIs4Me, canadianvickymonsoon, jesselovememto, TragedyDawl, ICantRemberSodAll, smartpajer, Midnight Hell, xxiluvemoboyzxx, StarS 009, Siah Yasana**


	8. Basketball

"Stupid excuse for a… arrogant piece of…" Sakura was mumbling to herself on her way to school the next day. She was still fuming about the day before at basketball practice. The night before she was really starting to get on her mothers nerves. Sakura has been in a bad mood ever since she had gotten home from school. "How can he have the nerve…"

"Hey, Sakura-chan, you know the first sign of madness is talking to yourself." A certain blonde knuckle-head shouted, running up to her. Blue eyes searched her, looking for an answer to a hidden question. Most likely _what's up?_

"You must be insane then, Naruto." Sakura said. She really wasn't in the mood for him at the moment.

"Naaaw, you're still annoyed at teme? He's really okay once you break down those walls of his."

"Yeah, if you have a bulldozer..." Sakura mumbled. Naruto's probably the only one to get through them barriers, and even he hasn't managed to get all the way through. Naruto ran off to his first class in the opposite direction to Sakura.

All the classes pasted in a blur, much to Sakura's dislike. She wanted the lessons to drag on, so that she could prolong the dreaded basketball practice at the end of the day. She wished that the Uchiha had called in sick or something, but as always, he was present. _Does that guy ever get sick?_ Sakura thought.

Maths went past in a blur, aswel as biology, history, Geography and Psychology. The 'Akatsuki' kept her mind off things at lunch, so that also past rather quickly. She even forgot about basketball while she was messing around with Konan and the guys. However, all good things have to come to an end and as soon as school had finished, she had to make her way over to the gym. If the Sasuke gave her another reason to hate him, she may just punch him that pretty face of his.

"Yo, Sakura!" Kiba yelled. Sakura was surprised he addressed her in such a casual tone, not adding a suffix on the end of her name. She was really starting to like Kiba, in a friendly sort of way. However, at the call of her name, a certain someone looked up.

"Hey Sakura-chan, still looking youthful I see!" Lee. He was a nice guy and all, but he just gets on people's nerves way to easily. He ran up to Sakura and gave her a big bear hug, which Sakura brushed off quickly.

"Right, now that everyone is here and looking youthful, let's get down to business!" said the coach. Just before the players started practicing, she glanced up at Sasuke, not being able to help it. Damn it, why do all the hot guys have a stick up their arse!

Sakura just sat down on a bench and watched them practice. Guy didn't call on her to comment on their play, probably from the upset yesterday. Although, she wasn't complaining. Lee came and sat next to her. They sat in silence, watching the intense play between each basketball player.

"Right, Sakura!" The coach shouted, getting said person's attention, "Come and practice some skills with us, show us what you can do!" Sakura mentally shouted some colourful words but stood up anyway and walked towards the coach. He threw her a basketball which she caught and she just bounced it on one spot, not knowing what to do with it.

'_Does he want me to shoot, dribble, tackle, what?' _Sakura thought, a little annoyed. The team had stopped playing and were waiting for her to do something, or waiting for the coach to give more instructions.

"Kiba, come over here! I want you to try and get the ball off Sakura. Both of you stand on either side of the court." Guy finally coached. At least it wasn't shooting, which was Sakura weakness. Although with Sasuke's tips from that gym session, she might just be able to shoot a few baskets.

The brunette and the pinkette both did as instructed and walked to opposite sides of the pitch. Sakura stood their, bouncing the ball, not wanting to move towards Kiba so that he could tackle her. However, as soon as Kiba realised that Sakura was not going to move, he moved forwards instead, closing the gap between him and Sakura. He put his hand out to swipe the ball away from her, but she saw this and swiveled around on her heel, directing the ball so that her body was in between Kiba and the ball. Kiba then went for another swipe, stepping around her so that he had a good view of the ball. Sakura turned around again to face the way she had originally, consequently putting Kiba behind her. She then ran towards the opposite side of the court where Kiba stood before. However, Kiba had thought of this and was hot on her trail. He was faster than Sakura, so he overtook her and blocked her path. She stopped and bounced the ball on the spot a bit more, waiting for the brunette's next move. He didn't keep her waiting long. He took a step forwards and swiped for the ball a third time, but Sakura bounced the ball lower, so that when it was at its highest, it only came up to her knee. Kiba missed the ball and Sakura ran again for the end of the court. This time she got their in time. She was safe. She had successfully kept the basketball in her possession. The room was quiet for a few seconds.

"Woo! Go Sakura-chan!" Naruto shouted, running over to her and giving her a pat on the back. Neji, Shikamaru, Lee and the coach walked up to her congratulated her. Kiba just stood their, shocked, but eventually he came around and ran up to Sakura to tell him how impressed he was by her maneuver.

"Sakura," a familiar voice said. The team broke into two halves, creating a gap so the Uchiha could walk through. The noise stopped, waiting for what the captain had to say. "Where did you learn a move like that?"

Onyx eyes searched hers, and she couldn't help but look into them. He had fascination and approval in his eyes, and all her annoyance and dislike for him went away for a couple of seconds while she said, "My dad was a basketball coach, he taught me a few moves."

After that basketball practice was over and they were all free to go home. Sakura just got to the gates when Naruto ran up to her.

"Hey, so your dad was a coach? That's pretty cool. What other stuff did he teach you?"

"Not much, just the basics. I'm not that good at shooting though; even he couldn't get me good at that." Sakura giggled at the memories. Her dad teaching her how to shoot when she was thirteen, when she missed the hoop by miles and the ball landed on her father's head. Sakura was so worried and upset about it that he bought her an ice-cream that day, a double cone with strawberry on one side and mint on the other, her favourite. Her dad always used to say it matched her hair and eyes.

"I'll have to meet him some time, maybe he can show me some new tricks so I can finally kick Sasuke's butt. Oh, speak of the devil; he's here now, bye!" Naruto said, waving to Sakura as he ran up to Sasuke. The Uchiha always took the blonde home in his black Jaguar XF. Apparently Naruto only has one car, but his guardian, Jiraiya, worked quite a while away in a different town so he needed the car. However, Naruto's father had left him his fortune when he died, but Naruto can't access it until his eighteenth birthday.

'_Why did I mention my dad to someone that I hardly know, and better yet, who's a complete _teme_" _Sakura thought. She could understand why she told Naruto, he's really easy to talk to, but _Sasuke_.

"Hello, Sakura-san." A deep, monotonous voice greeted her. At first she thought it was Sasuke but then she told herself that she had seen him drive off, with Naruto in the passenger seat, waving to her with his face pressed up against the window. She turned around to see a face which was similar to Sasuke's, but slightly different. Itachi Uchiha. During lunch he hardly spoke, only joining in conversations when it was really necessary.

"Oh, hi Itachi-san." He had probably talked to Sakura once, when she first met the Akatsuki. Even thought the Akatsuki was one group, they were split up into little groups. There was Kakuzu and Hidan, Deidara and Sasori, Kisame an Itachi, Sasori and Deidara, Pein and Konan, and Tobi and Zetsu pretty much talked to everyone. Sakura normally spoke to Konan and Sasori.

"How are you? I noticed you were quieter than usual at lunch today." He said. Well, he was more caring than his younger brother, she'd give him that. She told him all was fine, it was that she was worrying about basketball practice. He gave her a nod.

"Sorry about my little brother if he's being aloof. He doesn't seem to like new people, or fan girls for that matter."

"Oh, I'm definitely _not_ a fan girl." I said. He smiled.

"I think you're the fourth person I know who's not out of this whole entire school." He chuckled. "Well, I better get home, just be patient with him, he'll warm up to you. You know, he was nasty to Naruto when they first met, but now they're best friends." Sakura gave him a questioning look. "Naruto comes to our house often for dinner; he talks a lot about you." And then he walked over to his BMW and drove off.

'_So Naruto's a chatterbox to Sasuke's parents and brother…'_ Sakura pondered while she walked home.

"Naruto! You stupid _dobe!_"

"I couldn't help it!"

"You could have looked where you were going! Now what are we going to do? We've got a game soon!" Sakura recognized those voices. It was Naruto and Sasuke, having another one of their arguments over nothing. She wondered what it was about now.

Sakura followed the voices and saw a disaster scene. The fence to one side the court was trashed; it had come out of its foundations and was lying flat on the basketball court. The hoop that was standing behind the broken fence had fallen over, and the weight of the metal falling onto concrete had shattered the hoop part. Sakura looked more closely and the hoop had left a dent in the concrete underneath it. It must have fallen down with some force.

Sakura just stared at the trashed court until Naruto noticed her. Sasuke had his back to her.

"Sakura-chan!" he said, waving to said person.

"What the hell happened here?" Sakura asked. There was obviously no way the team could play on this court. So the outdoor court was out, what about the gym where they normally practiced?

"Dobe here 'tripped' over a rock and fell on the fence." Sasuke answered. He looked really annoyed and ready to punch something.

"Accidents happen. What about the gym?" Sakura asked, sticking up for Naruto. He couldn't help it if he tripped, although he could have looked where he was going.

"The freshmen are using it today for a kind of sports day thing." The raven haired Uchiha said. Oh well, that's a problem, Sakura thought.

"Damnit Naruto, you could have waited till after the game." Sasuke muttered.

"Look guys, you could come to my house. I've got a basketball court, although it's never been used." Sakura said. She didn't know why, she hardly knew the guys, but she didn't want Naruto to have a bruised face in the morning when the rest of the team found out.

"That would be great, Sakura-chan!" Naruto said. Sasuke just 'hn'ed. "I'll tell the guys at lunch!" They'd have to walk to Sakura's, or give them her address so they could drive there themselves.

At the end of the day, Naruto had text all of the team and they were waiting at the gate, even Lee and the coach, Guy. Lee ran up to Sakura and gave here a big hug.

"Thank you, Sakura! You don't know how much of a saviour you are!" he shouted in her ear. Sakura just smiled.

"We thought that you can ride with Naruto and Sasuke and then we can all follow behind." Guy said. Wow, a lift home. In a Jaguar.

'**KYYAAAAAAAA!'** Inner Sakura screamed. **'A Jaguar, with Uchiha!' **Sakura nodded in agreement to Guy; at least she'll be occupied with giving directions to Sasuke instead of trying to make conversation.

The Jaguar was amazingly comfortable and it run smoothly, not like her mums car which was getting quite old. She gave directions to Sasuke while the others followed behind in their cars. It didn't take long in the car to get to Sakura's house.

When they got out the car and the others were parking on the street outside her house, Naruto said, "Nice house." He was looking at the nicely trimmed hedges and freshly mowed front lawn, with a little blossom tree planted in the middle and colourful flowers planted around its base.

"It's not much; it's probably not as big as somebody's." Sakura said, glancing at Sasuke, thinking of his Jaguar. The Uchiha smirked.

When she got in her mother made some drinks and snacks and led them out to the basketball court. Then she left them to it.

"So, you've got a basketball court, but you never use it. Why?" Guy said.

"Mum bought a court thinking I'd use it, but I'd prefer not to. It always reminds me of my… dad." Sakura said. "He died just before we moved up here. That's the whole reason we moved." She continued, she might aswel tell them. She wouldn't tell the whole story though.

There were a mumble of 'I'm sorry' and then they went off and played while sakura sat with Lee, she didn't feel like playing. She was starting to warm up to him. Apparently he had always wanted to be a basketball player but he was never good at it, no matter how hard he tried, so he applied to be the mascot for the school's team and he got it.

When they had all gone, the place seemed empty and quiet.

"Did you have a nice time, honey?" Sakura's mother asked her.

"Yeah…" Sakura said. She was thinking about how Sasuke hadn't argued with her. She found out that he had a black labrador called Junko and that his father owns a very successful business, and that one day Sasuke will inherit it as Itachi wants to be an author.

"That Naruto's a chatty guy, but I noticed that Sasuke guy kept looking at you. He's quite handsome, isn't he?"

"Yeah…" Sakura said, lost in thought. "Wait, what?" Sasuke. Looking at her? She thought he hated her. Her hate for him was slowly decreasing as she got to know him a bit better. Naruto must have been right about those walls…

I've finally updated! I'm sorry about the wait; I've been studying for my exams and didn't have time

Please R & R. Reviews make me write!


	9. Comfort

**Chapter 9:**

Over the weekend all Sakura could think about was her mum's comment.

'_That Naruto's a chatty guy, but I noticed that Sasuke guy kept looking at you. He's quite handsome, isn't he?'_

She couldn't stop thinking about Sasuke. Yes, he was a jerk and needed an attitude adjustment, but sometimes he could be quite sweet. She kept thinking about his deep onyx eyes that she could help but fall into everytime she looked into them.

"Don't tell me I'm falling for Uchiha. God help me." Sakura said aloud. Thankfully her mother wasn't in. She was at her weekly art class. She thought her mother mentioned that this week they were painting from their imagination. Then she remembered that Deidara and Sasori went to an art class in town on a Sunday. Sakura wondered if they went to the same one, as there weren't many art classes in Konoha on a Sunday.

On Monday the pinkette went through her normal morning routine before school, and then her mum dropped her off at the gates of Konoha High. She still hadn't gotten used to the grandness of the high school.

"Yo, Sakura-chan!" Sakura recognized the voice to be Naruto's. She smiled at him and the rest of the group as she walked up to him. They were standing near the Cafeteria. As usual, Ino had her usual scowl plastered on her face. Then she noticed Sasuke, leaning on the wall of the Cafeteria wall with his arms crossed over his chest. He was looking at her as she walked up to them, but that wasn't unusual, everyone was looking at her. She'd never walked up to Naruto and Sasuke's group before – the most popular ones in the school, even out of the seniors. She felt uncomfortable with Ino's gaze on her. All the basketball team were smiling at her and greeting her, she even saw Hinata and TenTen smile at her. She couldn't help looking at Ino; she wouldn't drop her gaze from her. Then she saw the Akatsuki and ran over to them, glad to get away from Ino. She must have heard that they team went to her house.

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At lunch, Sakura was walking over to war she normally ate when she was grabbed by the wrist by someone and pulled back. It took all of her balance to stop from falling over. She noticed they had dragged her to an alley between the cafeteria and the main school.

"Hey, forehead girl, you think you can go around inviting Sasuke-kun to you house." A female voice said. Sakura saw a flash of red-hair and instantly knew who it was.

"Karin, I invited the whole basketball team, the school courts were-"

"Don't give me any excuses! You just wanted to get alone with him! Well I'll tell you something, you're not his type. He would never go out with a freak like you." That hit Sakura hard. She hadn't been called a freak in ages. She had forgotten her old nickname from her old school. Sakura tried to control her anger. She noticed their were two guys and a girl behind Karin.

"And he's not my type either, he's a self-absorbed jerk." Sakura said calmly, keeping her temper firmly locked away. She was trying to convince herself aswel. Sakura thought she saw a vein in Karin's forehead pop. So she had anger trouble too. Heh.

"Why you- Sasuke-kun is ten times, no, one million times better than you're whole pathetic family put together! I know you're mother doesn't have pink hair, so you're father probably had it. Hah! A guy with pink hair! What a joke. You're a joke, Haruno. Go back to where you came from, will you?" And she stomped off. Sakura stood there, too paralyzed to move. She could feel tears falling down her cheeks, but she didn't make a move to wipe them away. She was a joke, a freak with pink hair and a massive forehead.

She sniffed. She could hear voices coming from behind her. They were probably seniors coming down for a smoke. She had to get out of the alley; she didn't want anyone to see her like this. The tears were falling uncontrollably down her cheeks. She ran towards the toilets. But to get to the nearest one she had to walk through the cafeteria, which she certainly didn't want to do. Too many people. She'd have to go to the ones on the first floor near the lockers. As she was running she saw a certain raven haired Uchiha closing his locker. Great, he was going to see her. She put her head down, trying to hide her face. He would recognize her pink hair, but maybe he wouldn't see the tears streaming down her face. However, as she thought she passed him, she put her head up. But that was when she was right in front of him. If she hadn't have stopped she would have toppled right into him. She hadn't been looking where she was going when she had her head down.

He looked down at her as she looked up at him, his eyes widening a little, which for Sasuke was a lot.

"Sakura?" He said as she started running again. She ignored him.

In the toilets she let herself in a cubicle and sat down and wept. She didn't care if anyone else was in there. She was in there for about a minute before she heard a flush and the taps running. She tried to be quiet but she couldn't stop sniffing. She watched the feet of the person as they stopped as they heard the sniffs.

"Sakura, is that you?" It was Konan. Sakura didn't answer.

"Come on Sakura, I recognize your shoes. Open up." Sakura lifted her feet up off the floor and cuddled her knees. She heard Konan sigh. "If you don't open up I'll go and get Tobi." That made Sakura open the door. She couldn't deal with Tobi right now. How Konan would get him into the girls bathroom she'll never know.

"Gosh Sakura, what's happened?" The blue haired girl said as she saw Sakura's face and immediatly held her in a hug.

"Stupid Karin and her minions." Sakura mumbled. "She called my family a joke, and said that my dad was a freak for having pink hair, which he didn't!" Konan knew Sakura's father was a touchy subject. Konan just held her until she stopped crying.

"When I first started this school everyone bullied me because of my hair colour, but then I met Pain and he sorted it out." Konan smiled at the memory. "All the females in my family have blue hair; I have no idea why though. They have done for generations. It's nothing to be ashamed of Sakura. You're unique." This made sakura smile.

"My mum has red-hair, and my dad had blonde hair." Sakura said, just to fill the silence. Konan smiled again.

"You know, if you meet a guy, he might sort all these bully's out. I'm afraid I'm not the right person to do that. If I threatened them, they'd probably laugh. I'm a girl." Konan laughed herself. Sakura thought about that. She imagined Sasuke beating up the guys that bullied her. She was sure he was capable of it. She smiled. "Or have you already met someone. With that smile, I bet you have."

"No! I mean, maybe, but I don't know. He's a jerk."

"Let me guess, Sasuke?"

"No!" Sakura said a little too quickly. Konan's eyebrow's lifted. Sakura sighed. "I don't want him to think I'm like his fangirls, because I'm not. I don't want him to push me away because he knows I like him. I've only just made friends with him... I think. Oh I don't know, Konan, I'm so confused!"

Konan smiled. "It'll all come clear eventually. Patience is a virtue." She sang, and they both walked down to where they ate lunch.

Sorry it's short! I'll write a longer one next chapter :)

Please R & R, I really appreciate it! 3


	10. Confession

The next day at the beginning of school, Sakura went to her locker before class to get some books out that she would need for the rest of the day. She opened her locker and started foraging for the right books when she saw some feet approach and stop behind her locker door. She couldn't see who it was because her locker door was swung open. She put her books in her bag and closed the locker. It was a guy she recognised from her maths class, but she'd never spoken to him before. She didn't even know his name. She politely smiled and tried to walk past him, but he stuck his arm out to stop her from passing.

"Uh, can I help you?" Sakura said.

"You're unique." The boy said.

"Excuse me?" he was starting to get on her nerves. If she didn't leave now she'd be late for her first class. And Ibiki-sensei didnt have sympathy for students her were late. Quite the opposite.

"You're pink hair; it makes you stand out from the crowd. I like that." He said.

_Is he trying to chat me up?_ Sakura thought.

"Anyway, I've lost my phone number, may I have yours?" he said.

_**Oh. My. Days. He is. And that is the oldest line in the book! And sooo cheesy! But cute…**_ Sakura's inner self said. Sakura looked up at the boy and he was cute. She started to reply, letting him down gently, when the guy got pulled back and smashed against the lockers.

"Stay away from her." It was Sasuke. He let go of the front of the boy's jacket and threw him behind him. Sakura saw over his shoulder that the cute guy walked away, rubbing his back where Sasuke had slammed him against the lockers.

"Uh-?" Sakura said.

"Sasuke Uchiha, detention, my office, now! And Sakura Haruno, you can come along too." Great. It was Anko-sensei. She was just as bad as Ibiki.

"I thought you had a big temper. Unless you were actually considering his offer." Sasuke said.

"You didn't give me chance! I could have handled him." Sakura said holding her fists up and pretending to punch him.

They were both sat in detention. It was Sakura's second detention since she came to this school. In her old one, she didn't get one detention. Her mum was mad at her first one, she's going to be fuming now.

"Anyway, what was that all about? There was no need to pin him against the wall."

"Yo, Sasuke, I need a lift, I'm missing my favourite programme, and I need my weekly fix of scrubs!" The blonde knucklehead said, waling into the office, not seeming to notice that they were in detention.

"I have to miss programmes I want to watch when you're in detention." Sasuke countered. "I'm surprised you didn't get one today with that big mouth of yours."

"Teme!" Naruto yelled. He was opening his mouth to say another comeback to the Uchiha when Sakura interrupted.

"Break it up guys! You're just wasting each others breath! Are you always like this?"

"Hey, Sakura! Didn't see you there!" Naruto shouted. Sakura sweat dropped.

Sakura decided to take a long-cut back to her house, but it was more scenic. The houses down this estate where massive, almost like mansions. They had enormous front gardens and big electric gates. The cars in the driveways were all Jaguars, BMV's and convertibles. There was even the odd polished motorcycle and caravan. Sakura would love to live in a community like this.

She came across a park which was deserted, so she decided to have a little swing. When she was little she'd never go on the slides or the sandpit, always the swings. She could stay on them for hours. She sat down on one of the swings and started swinging it a little bit, not too high though. Something dug into her hip and she stopped the swing and fished inside her coat pocket. She felt a metal frame and pulled it out. She froze. It was a picture of her mum, dad and herself. Her dad was in the middle of the photo, holding a basketball, and her mum was clinging onto his arm. Sakura had a big cheesy grin on her face, reaching up for the ball. She was only about eight. If only she could go back to them times.

A little tear escaped her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. She started crying softly and then it started raining. It had reported rain this evening, and Sakura had lost track of time. As she was about to leave, still crying, a figure came and sat on the swing next to her.

"You're going to catch a cold if you stay out here."

"S-Sasuke-kun!" She said, shocked. Then she covered her mouth. She'd just added the suffix onto his name. However, all Sasuke did was smirk. Then he noticed her eyes and wiped away a tear from her cheek. Sakura froze. "S-Sasuke-kun?"

"What's wrong?" He said. She noticed that he had brought his black Labrador with him. Junko was his name, Sakura remembered.

"Nothing." Sakura replied a little too quickly.

"Normal people wouldn't sit in the rain and cry if there wasn't something wrong." He noticed the picture frame in her hands, "Is that your mum and dad?" All Sasuke could do is nod.

"Sometimes it just hits me how much I miss him." Sakura said between sobs. She decided to spill. "He was murdered." She couldn't look at Sasuke, but she could feel his eyes on her. She looked at her feet. "They found the people who did it, but they made me witness it. They held me so that I couldn't run, I closed my eyes but I could still hear his screams…" she couldn't say anymore, she had started crying even harder than before. Sasuke didn't move for a couple of minutes, but then he got up from the swing and hugged her. Sakura stood up with him and buried her face in his chest.

"I'm so sorry." Sasuke kept saying. His strong arms kept her warm and sheltered from the rain. She looked up and sasuke was looking down at her. Was that… sympathy in his eyes? The Uchiha, being sympathetic. Well, that's not something you see everyday. Sakura's lips quivered as she tried not to cry anymore, and that's when Sasuke lowered his head and put his lips on hers. Sakura's eyes widened in shock but then she started kissing him back.

Eventually they both pulled away. "You want a lift?" Sakura nodded. She was soaked.

"Where's your car?" Sakura said, noticing that he was probably taking his dog for a walk.

"I live on this estate. My house is just up there." He pointed. Sakura's jaws dropped.

"You live… here?" She said, shocked.

"Yep, now I'm just going to drop Junko off and I'll get my car. You can come if you want." Sakura looked to where Sasuke had pointed and she could see his black Jaguar and Itachi's BMW in the driveway. She could see another car, probably his parents.

Sasuke's house was massive, easily one of the biggest on the street. And that was just the outside. The inside must be humungous. She swallowed. She wasn't used to being in an expensive estate. Everything was so perfect that she was scared to move. Sasuke went inside the house for two seconds to take Junko's lead off and then he came back outside with his car keys. He got inside the drivers eat and Sakura sat in the passenger seat. Sakura was going to remember this day for the rest of her life.

At her front door, Sasuke gave Sakura another quick kiss and turned to go in his car.

"Wait, your jacket!" Sakura said, starting to shrug it off.

"Keep it. See you tomorrow." He said as he got back into his car. He waved as he drove off and Sakura went inside into her nice dry house, which seemed quite small now that she had seen Sasuke's. Now she was going to have to explain the jacket and Sasuke to her mum.

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Please R & R, it makes me write! :) The last chapter will probably be the last! And I'm starting college next week so I probably won't be writing as often :( I'll try my best though :)


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